Monday, September 28, 2009

All Day Fair Isle Class results, and now that it's getting chilly in the mornings

Lookie here! Martha finished her hat from the All Day Fair Isle class that I taught at NCFF. Didn't it turn out beautifully? She and her sister Molly opted to knit the adult size hat, rather than the toddler size. I am so proud!

And since I need an Adult Size hat to show the class at SAFF (the first chart I tried needed adjusting- it was too long, and this is not a hat where the brim can be rolled up, so I had to revise it before the class and didn't have time to knit another sample). I'm using leftover yarn from the The Big Book of Socks (Jarbo Garn Raggi, and some Knit Picks Wool of the Andes worsted). I love the effect with self striping and patterning yarns in Fair Isle, but I also love the 2-color look of traditional Norwegian knitting. Plus, I got really tired of using the same striping yarn for all my class samples (I think I've knit 5 hats that look pretty much exactly the same, and that is easily 3 too many).

I'm nearly done with the samples for my five SAFF classes (I need to finish this hat and cast on the one we'll knit together in the class)(which is full, btw). All of my handouts and workshop supplies are heading to NC even as I type (via the PO). I just have to put together the *Writing Patterns for Publication* talk/handout, and I'll be ready for SAFF. Wahoo!

When I was at the Sock Summit, I took a podcasting class from Heather Ordover, of Craft Lit . I still haven't tried my own audio recordings for the blog, but now that it's getting chilly (and the fall winds have come up), I've been using the treadmill in the basement more often. I don't listen to my Zune when I run out on the highway because of that it's really more important to hear the oncoming traffic than it is to listen to music or books thing, but when I'm in the house, I'm not so apt to be run over by a text-driving trucker.

I subscribed to Craft Lit, and have downloaded a couple of the recent podcasts, which brought me in toward the end of a reading of The Scarlet Letter (note: that link contains major spoilers). It's really interesting to hear Heather's take on Arthur Dimmsdale. It's been awhile since I read the book, but I doubt I'd change my opinion of him as the worst sort of hypocrite (of which we have many examples today, many in exactly the same position as Arthur). Heather views him with some (though not a whole lot) of sympathy, whereas I see him as a worm. She's nearly done with this book, and I don't think I'll go back and listen to the previous chapters, but I will continue on with whatever book she chooses to read and discuss next.

In the meantime, I've started listening to Wilkie Collin's The Woman in White (link contains some spoilers), via my old friend, Librivox. I am not as partial to TWiW as I am to The Moonstone, but I am enjoying it. So far, the reader is excellent, and it surely makes that hour on the treadmill go by faster.

Clarification : All foot measurements in the instructions are to be measured after the heel is finished. Measure the foot flap and gusset heel socks from the gusset edge, and measure the foot for short-row heel socks from the first full round after completing the heel.
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When you come upon instructions that say knit as for, referring you to a different pattern for the next step (for example, to the 40 stitch flap and gusset heel), knit that portion of your heel as you would for the referred pattern. In other words, knit it in the same manner, using the same short-row technique as in the referenced instructions. Knitting "as for" does not mean that you are to use the same number of stitches (which would be impossible, since only the 40 stitch heel uses forty stitches). Work the first two rows of your listed heel instructions, and then continue in the same manner as the 40 stitch flap and gusset heel (in other words, work one more stitch on each row, before doing the decrease and turn), until you have worked across all of the stitches.

Listen to the Knit Picks Podcast Interview

40 minutes of me blathering on and on while Kelly Petkun of Knit Picks asks some very good questions. Twice.

I Heart Felt

About The Free Pattern Downloads

You (individuals, not companies or corporations) may knit as many items from the Freebie Friday patterns (or any other original free patterns posted here) as you like. You may sell those items and make a bazillion dollars doing so. I would rather you didn't repost the pattern pages, or print them to hand out to others. Link to here so people can download their own copies, please. I would also prefer that you not teach the patterns as classes without contacting me first about it. Crediting the design and designer would also be nice.

I would love for people to send me jpgs of items knit from the Freebie patterns. I'll post them if any come in.

About Me

I'm a writer (6 mysteries, one mainstream novel, 5 knitting books, lots of designs and reviews, paper dolls, blather), wife, mother, and grandmother. I knit, I watch TV obsessively while I knit, I spin, I read, I listen to music, and I talk. A lot.